A Mason County citizen advisory group has approved a property owner’s request to rezone 10 acres to eventually build a 100-unit apartment complex in Belfair.

The Mason County Planning Advisory Commission heard testimony regarding PCI LLC’s rezone request at a public hearing on Monday in Shelton, and subsequently approved the request, pushing it forward to the Board of County Commissioners for final approval later this year.

PCI LLC, represented by Dean Mauerman, requested a rezone of a 10-acre parcel from a rural residential 5 designation to rural residential 10 — meaning the landowner may develop up to 10 dwelling units per acre, except where critical lands are present, versus up to 5 units per acre.

The decision to approve or reject the rezone does not involve approval of a specific project (which would undergo a separate permitting and approval process), but Mauerman did share that he intended to build one- to three-bedroom units that could include low-income housing.

The project, located near Roy Boad Road and Mason Transit Authority’s temporary parking lot behind Safeway, does not impact wetlands and streams, Mauerman said, and would require fully paving Roy Boad Road and making any necessary water and sewer improvements.

“There are a lot of question marks here,” Mauerman acknowledged. “But the first step is having the property rezoned.”

Belfair resident Ken VanBuskirk argued that the rezone could encourage landowners to rezone their properties for increased development and said the zoning change impacts the comprehensive plan and thus should have met additional guidelines before approval.

“This property was originally an R-10, but it was subsequently changed to R-5 because of the slopes and the environmental concerns,” VanBuskirk said, bringing up work the Belfair subarea planning group did 15 years ago. “This is a change for the subarea plan.”

The property borders the Great Peninsula Conservancy’s 17-acre nature preserve on Irene Creek, and GPC executive director Sandra Staples-Bortner expressed her concern in a Sept. 13 letter to Mason County’s Community Services department.

“An increase in the intensity in development of the rezone parcel, which consists mainly of steep slopes, riparian and riparian buffer areas, will likely produce significant negative impacts on GPC’s preserve through increased stormwater runoff,” Staples-Bortner wrote.

Planning advisory board member Deb Soper echoed VanBuskirk’s concerns and wondered whether her fellow members would be as supportive of the rezone request if Mauerman had proposed building high-rise luxury condominiums.

Board chairwoman Marilyn Vogler said the type of housing didn’t matter to her.

“Things have changed (since the parcel was last zoned),” she said. “There’s so much pressure for housing in the north end of the county. Housing is housing. Any increase in housing will improve things down the line.”

The planning advisory board also heard testimony about a potential rezone off Strong Road in the Pickering area of Mason County, south of Grapeview, of a 10-acre parcel from rural residential 5 to rural tourist campground.

A designation of a rural tourist campground would allow for the development of an overnight lodging facility, including an RV park, campground, golf course and retreat center, as well as under a special permit, motorized commercial outdoor recreation and rifle ranges.

The request, put forward by landowner Michael O’Reilly, attracted more than 100 comments in the form of letters and oral testimony from neighbors against the rezone, with residents citing concerns such as noise, safety, lighting and increased traffic.

“We do have concerns,” said neighbor Bill Giles. “How is this supposed to improve our neighborhood? This is still a quiet place to live. This could really alter our neighborhood, and for what benefit?”

O’Reilly had initially applied for the designation of master planned resort district but Mason County realized its comprehensive plan does not have policies in place to allow a master planned resort, so that is no longer an option, said Mason County planning manager Kell Rowen.

The planning advisory board opted to hold a workshop and informal hearing about O’Reilly’s request to air out the concerns and answer the public’s questions. The board did not approve the request since O’Reilly’s application is incomplete.

If O’Reilly moves forward with the application, Rowen will make a recommendation to approve or deny the request to the planning advisory board, which will then make its own recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners for final approval of the rezone request.

Any actual development would be subject to additional permits and environmental review.